Aleman, Prof. André

André Aleman (1975) is professor of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry at the Department of Neurosciences of the UMCG and the Department of Psychology of the University of Groningen. Aleman is an innovative, internationally renowned brain researcher. His research field covers subjects such as suicide, ageing, schizophrenia and depression. One of Aleman’s achievements was to analyse the brains of schizophrenic patients who hear voices. His research is regularly cited in textbooks and finds its way onto the bookshelves of policymakers.
Shortly after having gained his PhD cum laude, he was awarded a Vidi grant by NWO to conduct research into emotional disorders in schizophrenia. In 2006 he was awarded a European Young Investigator Award by the European Science Foundation for research into decreased illness awareness in psychotic disorders. His research into psychiatric disorders of perception, such as hallucinations in schizophrenia, is internationally renowned. Aleman was a member of the KNAW Young Academy and of the Health Council of the Netherlands and Academic Editor of the international journal PLoS ONE. In 2011 Aleman wrote the book Hersenspinsels, in which he shows how subtly our brain can fool us. In 2012, his book Het Seniorenbrein (The Older Brain) was published, in which Aleman addresses the question of what is going on inside our head as we age. Aleman demonstrates that the decline is often less serious than we tend to believe.
In late 2011, Aleman received a EUR 1.5 million Vici grant from NWO. Vici academics are among the top researchers in the Netherlands and only three or four grants are awarded every year in each academic field. Aleman received the grant for his research into the underlying mechanisms of apathy in schizophrenia. Apathy is a common problem in other psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as depression and early dementia, as well. NWO expects the knowledge gained in this project to be widely applicably in further research into the normal and abnormal brain.
In 2017 Aleman has been elected as member of the KNAW.
Expertise
Neuroimaging, neurosciences, hallucinations, hearing voices
Previously in the news

- Why can't you tickle yourself? (Eva zoekt uit, Dutch video)
- More at play in elderly with forgetfulness
- Aleman elected as member of the KNAW
- A road map for suicide research
- Older brain advises better
- Vici grant for André Aleman
- About 'Hersenspinsels'
- Iedereen ziet wel eens dingen die er niet zijn (Dutch article in Volkskrant)
- Iedereen bedriegt zichzelf [Everyone deceives himself; Dutch article]
Contact and further information
Publications
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
Last modified: | 24 January 2023 1.16 p.m. |